Washington, D.C.—In response to today’s announcement that President Trump is nominating Gina Haspel to lead the CIA, Human Rights First’s Raha Wala issued the following statement:
“During Gina Haspel’s long tenure at the CIA, she oversaw torture at a CIA blacksite during one of the bleakest points in our nation’s history. No one who had a hand in torturing individuals deserves to ever hold public office again, let alone lead an agency. To allow someone who had a direct hand in this illegal, immoral, and counterproductive program is to willingly forget our nation’s dark history with torture.”
Haspel reportedly oversaw the torture of two terrorism suspects at a CIA blacksite in Thailand, and participated in efforts to destroy video documentation of these harsh interrogations.
